1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charger that has a plurality of battery connection parts and is configured so as to be able to charge a battery pack by connecting the battery pack to each battery connection part.
2. Description of the Related Art
A charger of the related art is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H05-207667. The charger disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H05-207667 is configured to include three sets of charging units, and each charging unit is configured to include a power supply part and two charging circuits. The power supply part can be connected to one of the two charging circuits by a switching means.
According to the above charging unit, when a first battery pack is being charged by a first charging circuit and a second battery pack is inserted into a second charging circuit, charging of the second battery pack will start only after the charging of the first battery pack is completed. After the first battery is charged, the switching means connects the second battery pack to the second charging circuit. Therefore, in the case where quick charging of the second battery pack is needed, it is preferable to connect the second battery pack to the second charging unit in which charging is not performed.
Further, a charger disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-224933 is configured to include a plurality of battery connection parts, and each battery connection part can be connected to a battery pack. Further, each battery connection part is configured to separately include an independent charging circuit. For this reason, should one of the battery connection parts breaks down, charging of the battery pack can be performed by use of a battery connection part that corresponds to another charging circuit.